Sam’s Blog - Chaudiere 2023 Race Recap
The two and a half weeks leading up to the Bud-Light 300 at Autodrome-Chaudiere can be summed up in one word: hectic. Having to miss the first two races of the season, we were on the back foot with regard to a ride in the 2023 NASCAR Pinty’s Series campaign and I had just assumed at that point that my first race back would probably be at the Toronto Indy on July 14. It seemed like a reasonable timeline to get something sorted out.
Discussions about a partnership with GM Paillé began at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on the Castrol Victoria Day SpeedFest weekend. My dad, Ron, and JC Paillé were discussing several topics in the boardroom of the CTMP event centre. I was looking sad behind my desk, typing away at a laptop, with no Pinty’s ride to speak of. But JC Paillé was willing to help and so we devised a plan to partner on an effort going forward. Having spent some time with JC, he is one of the nicest people you can meet. He is super passionate about racing and continuing to raise the bar in Canada when it comes to motorsport. Although we hadn’t really considered going to Autodrome-Chaudiere, we did not want to pass up the opportunity offered by the Paillé team so we decided to set our sights on that race and get to work.
Mike McColl and his team came to our rescue too, helping me to get fitted in the car that had arrived from Paillé - which had been built originally by McColl. With my tall stature we were worried about the fit, but the McColl team made it work. Then came the matter of who would help us run the car, and as a family we decided the best thing might be just to start our own team. So that’s what we did. With the help of AER Manufacturing, run by the McGraw family in Texas, we created Fellows McGraw Racing (FMR). The whole family (mom, dad, brother) pitched in as we all dealt in the various tasks of putting an organization together to be ready for our first race that was closing fast. Putting together an effort like this is not easy! There are a lot of moving parts, but we had support through the paddock and racing community. And with the generous help from other teams and people we were able to get everything organized. After a quick shakedown at Delaware Speedway on Monday night of race-week the car then got wrapped by our good friends at C17 Media on Tuesday, and everything seemed more or less squared away on the organizing side, so it was time to focus on the race.
Autodrome-Chaudiere is a really cool track, with great fans and an awesome atmosphere. You can tell the folks there are really passionate about racing. I had learned a thing or two having raced there in 2022, specifically about how good the outside-line can work in the race. In practice I tried to start slowly and build up my comfort level with the new car. There’s definitely some differences between our new car and the previous oval equipment I have raced - so I tried to stay patient while we figured some of those finer points out. We slapped on a fresh set of tires and went up to sixth on the practice sheet, which was a nice confidence boost. The problem was, a bunch of others did the same thing and went faster! I was really surprised about how greasy it felt on the first couple laps of the fresh tire run. As with everyone else - I think - we were fighting some understeer. The car felt a little too tight in the centre, and sometimes would swap the other way under throttle. I’m not sure what other drivers call this, but my dad and I call this “push-to-loose.”
Unfortunately in qualifying I got too greedy on my second lap and I had to give the throttle a big lift. We qualified 15th and I was pretty mad at myself for the mistake, because a big lift like that is a lifetime of speed on a small track like Chaudiere. As drivers we try to put these mistakes behind us and focus on the next task, and for me that was to fuel up physically. I like to eat a peanut-butter and banana sandwich before the race, so I drowned my qualifying sorrows in my sandwich.
At the very beginning of the race we dropped a couple places, I admittedly felt a little rusty and so my initial start wasn’t great. But it doesn’t take long to get back into the rhythm or things, and we slowly started gaining some positions. There was a pretty long green flag run in the first half and our pace seemed okay. I was content hanging around 12th/13th/14th for the time being. It’s a long race and my plan was to make up some spots just before the halftime break. Luckily we got a string of cautions before that happened, and so I decided to try and make the outside line work. The car seemed to come to life on the high line and we started making up spots like crazy. I think we made up as high as ninth or 10th place after working the outside on a couple good restarts. I found myself racing with Camirand and Tagliani, two drivers who are very experienced in this series. I was able to work that outside line and tuck in behind Camirand for a while. Funny enough, my car seemed to work better on the outside than it did down low. When I got behind the 96 and tried to follow his line, it just didn’t seem to work for me. We got to the halfway caution flag in 10th place. Racing our way up there and battling with some of the top cars felt really good.
Having to rush our preparation for this race, I didn’t get enough time to properly dial in my seat fit and so this race was physically really difficult for me. I was uncomfortable for the entire 300 lap event, which is never ideal. During the five-minute allotted pit-stop time, as a new team we were pitted at the very back of the NASCAR garage area. And having knowledge of penalties received before for touching the car before those five minutes began, our team was being really cautious of that. Unfortunately the communication wasn’t ideal and we were never told that the five minutes had begun, so when we got to work we were already behind on the clock. Being the first race for our new team, our crew hadn’t had time to get 100% comfortable with the routine and time was running out fast. We then returned to the track where we were told to go to the back of the line for “working after the five minutes.” We were all pretty frustrated with that call. We didn’t feel that we had held up the line at all, and we had returned to the track in a train of other drivers too and they weren’t penalized to my knowledge.
From there things got even worse, while trying to pick my way back through the field I tangled with a car that was already several laps down and I spun around in turn two. I tried my best to get out in front of the leaders who were slowing down for the caution flags, but I just didn’t get back on the track in time and so we went a lap down. Again, it was super frustrating for us. Personally whenever I have been a lap down, I try really hard to be conscious of who is around me and where I am in the running order. If there’s people I need to race I will race them, but if there’s folks on different laps then I personally don’t see the point in racing them for track position and I usually let them go.
The car felt a bit wounded after that and I essentially tried to just stay out of trouble and limp home in the second half of the race. Surprisingly we still only finished 11th, which ties my personal best finish on an oval anyways. So on the whole there was a lot of positives to take away from the race. Still, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed knowing how well we did in the first half.
Myself and the FMR team are taking this season one step at a time, and getting our first race under our belt was definitely an important step forward. We’ll absolutely be back for more this season, just where and when right now is still unconfirmed. But as a guy who only has been racing on ovals for a couple years, I must say it is an absolute blast and the car we were able to get from Paillé was truly a pleasure to drive!
The 2023 Bud-Light 300 at Autodrome-Chaudiere near Vallee-Jonction, Quebec.
Our No. 87 Camaro was rocking a 1999 Ron Fellows/NEMCO Craftsman Truck throwback livery.
Our crew for this weekend included Mike Knott, Gavin Theophilopolous, Al Logue, Herby Drescher, and my brother Patrick Fellows.
Crew Chief Mike Knott adjusting tire pressures before qualifying.
Folding myself into the car before the race!